4
Maxine let out an "Oof!" as the slave trader threw her onto the ground. They quickly chained her to the wall, putting cuffs around her wrists, and a large one around her neck, doing the same to Eustace and Lucy. The man who chained Maxine grinned at her.
"You're sure to sell for a good price." He said, patting her cheek. Maxine glared at the man and tried to bite his hand, but he pulled away too quickly for her to do anything. So, instead, she spat in his face. The trader groaned and wiped away the spit in distaste, "You better be worth the money we sell you for." He walked away from the three of them, leaving them chained to the wall. Maxine looked to see they weren't the only ones, for dozens of people, and a few Narnians, had been chained up like they had.
She suddenly heard the sound of sobbing and she and Lucy looked over at Eustace, he had started crying. "I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry…!"
"You should be!" Maxine snapped angrily, "If you hadn't come with us, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Max!" Lucy hissed.
"Well, it's true." Maxine grumbled like a child, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"Just calm down," Lucy said, "If we clear our heads, maybe we can come up with a plan."
"Calm down?" Maxine said incredulously to the girl, "Lucy, do you not see the chains on our wrists, and around our necks?!" She waved her chained wrists in Lucy's face, "How can anyone be calm in this situation?"
"I'm sorry…!" Eustace sobbed, Maxine kicked his leg.
"Eustace, as great as it is to see you crying, it's getting real old real fast so will you just shut up?" Maxine snapped testily. She sighed to herself and looked up at the darkening sky. "God knows what's happening to Ed and Caspian right now."
"Max, stop worrying," Lucy said, "It's just until the morning, remember? Caspian told Reepicheep if we weren't back by dawn to send a search party. Reepicheep hasn't let us down before, and I doubt he's going to start now."
"Luce, in all fairness," Maxine said, "We could be sold off to someone by morning."
"I never wanted this to happen…!" Eustace sobbed, Maxine kicked him again.
"Eustace, shut up." She said, she looked back up at the darkening night sky, "God, I hope they're okay." She felt her heart clench painfully at the thought of Caspian being in trouble.
The next morning…
Caspian kicked at the door of the dungeon he and Edmund were locked up in, waking him up. Caspian turned to him, "You alright?"
Edmund pushed himself up from the floor where he had slept the previous night. He looked around the dungeon, which was practically bare except for a tall, wooden pillar with ropes loosely hanging from it. He mentally cringed when he saw the dried spots of blood along the wood. "Yeah." He looked at Caspian as he kicked the door again, unsuccessfully getting it open.
"It's hopeless." A voice said to them. Caspian stopped and turned in the direction it had come from, "You'll never get out."
"Who's there?" Edmund demanded, walking closer the darkness the voice had come from.
"Nobody." The voice said desolately, "Just a voice in my head…" Caspian walked closer, and a form made its way out of the darkness and into the light from a window in the dungeon. An old, wrinkled up man with a long beard, and drooping, tired eyes. Caspian looked over the man, recognizing some of his features from the sketches on his wall.
"Lord Bern." He said, the man made a curious face.
"Perhaps once," Lord Bern said, "But I'm no longer deserving of that title." Edmund looked over at Caspian.
"Is he one of the seven?" He asked, Caspian nodded and went closer to the man so he could he could get a better look at his face, coming into the same light Lord Bern was in. Lord Bern squinted his eyes as he examined Caspian's face.
"Your face…" He murmured, "You remind me of a king I once loved well." A small smile flitted onto Caspian's face at the mention of his father.
"That man was my father." Caspian said, Lord Bern's eyes widened, and his hands began to shake.
"Oh my Lord…" He murmured, his voice shaking as much as his hands. He dropped down to his knees in front of Caspian, "Please, forgive me…!"
"No, please." Caspian said, pulling him up from the floor. Edmund looked up at the window when he heard the sound of horses whinnying loudly, and someone crying out. He climbed up and looked through the window, seeing a cart of people in chains being pulled by two horses. A man ran towards the cart, reaching his hand out for a woman, calling her name. A little girl ran behind him, calling out for her mother. When the man reached the cart, he tried to take her hand and pull her off, but a guard pushed him away from the cart and knocked him to the ground. The little girl still ran, but the mother shouted out to her.
"Stay with daddy!" She cried to the little girl, who stopped running beside her father.
"Don't worry!" The man shouted to her, "I'll find you!"
"Mummy!" The little girl cried out, her father held her back as she began to cry, rocking her in his arms. Edmund watched as they reached the docks, pulling the people off and into a longboat with no oars in it. Caspian came up next to Edmund to see what was happening. He turned back to Lord Bern.
"Where are they taking them?" He asked.
"Keep watching." Lord Bern said. He did just that and watched as they pushed the boat off of the docks. The people had been chained to the sides of it, with weights at their ankles so they wouldn't jump off the boat. Dark clouds suddenly began rolling in, covering a small body of water in between the islands. From the shadow of the clouds came a green mist, and the people in the boat began to scream out in fear of it. The mist quickly engulfed the boat, and then it stopped, receding into the shadow of the clouds and disappearing. The boat and everyone who was in it was gone.
"What happened?" Caspian asked once it was over.
"It's a sacrifice." Lord Bern explained solemnly.
"Where did they go?" Caspian asked him. Lord Bern shook his head.
"No one knows." He said, Caspian and Edmund jumped down from the window and stepped up to him as he kept speaking, "The mist was first seen in the east, reports of sailors and fishermen disappearing out at sea. Three lords made a pact to find the source of the mist and destroy it! They each set sail… but none came back. You see, if they don't sell you to the slave traders, you're likely to be fed to the mist."
"We have to find Lucy and Max." Edmund said, "Before it's too late."
"I bid 60!"
"I bid 80!"
"100 for the little lady!" Different men shouted out bids for Lucy as she stood on the podium, still bound by chains around her wrists, and neck.
"120!" Another man called out.
"150!" Another buyer shouted. Maxine watched in disgust as Lucy was bid on like an auction piece.
"Any more bids?" The man next to Lucy asked. A few groans went out from the crowd, apparently, Lucy wasn't worth more than 150 of Lone Island currency. "Sold!" The man put a 'sold' sign around her neck and pulled her away from the podium. When a man tried to push Maxine up, she elbowed his gut and tried to run. She knew it was effortless, but if she could just buy some time for them before Reepicheep and the search party showed up, that would be enough. She let out a cry when she was caught by a man and punched in her stomach by the one she had elbowed.
"She needs a bit of… obedience training." The man said to the one holding her. Maxine felt her blood run cold at the sight of his grin as he nodded. The one who had punched her sent some sort of signal to the other before they started dragging her off somewhere. Lucy looked after her worriedly, Eustace just looked terrified for what was going to happen to him. He was right behind Maxine in the line-up, so he was next to be sold. He was pushed up onto the podium.
"And now, for this… fine specimen." The man said gesturing to Eustace, "Who'll king off the bidding?"
"Come on, move!" One of the traders said as he pushed Edmund and Caspian out of the dungeons, their hands bound in chains. "Move!" The two moved as the two men commanded them to, not noticing the two men dragging the writhing Maxine in their grasp into the dungeon that they had just been in.
"Get off me!" Maxine shouted at them. Caspian stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around, seeing her being dragged in, "You're gonna be sorry for this!"
"Maxine…" He breathed, he ran towards her, but the traders stopped him, "Maxine!" She turned her head at the sound of his voice and saw him struggling against the traders. She tried to get to him as well, but the traders had a strong hold on her as well.
"Caspian!" She cried, she reached for him, as he did, but they were too far apart for their hands to meet. She was dragged into the dungeon room. She let out a cry when she was thrown onto the floor of the dungeon. She glared at the men as they pulled her wrists forward, undoing the chains and bringing her over to the wooden pillar in the room, and trying her hands into the ropes. Maxine moved her head when she heard the sound of a whip. She turned to see one of them holding a long, black leather whip, still wearing that sick grin.
"I'm going to enjoy this." He said. The other man put an identical grin on his face as he walked over to Maxine, ripping the back of her shirt, exposing the skin on her back.
"What's this?" The man asked, pulling up the back of her bra.
"What does it matter?" The other said, "It's going to break, anyhow. Now stand aside. You don't want to get in the way." The man moved aside while the other one held the whip, "Tell me, girl. Who is your master?"
"Definitely not your fat ass!" Maxine snapped.
"Oh, I'm really going to enjoy this." He said, raising the whip up and bringing back down so it would hit her skin. Maxine grit her teeth. She was not going to give this man the benefit of hearing her in pain, even if it did hurt like hell.
"Come on, now!" The man auctioneering Eustace off said to the crowd of buyers, none of whom had made any bids. "He may not look like much but, uh…" He squeezed Edmund's arm, feeling the nonexistent muscle there, "He's strong."
"Yeah, he's strong, alright," One of the buyers said, "Smells like the rear end of a minotaur." The crowd laughed.
"That is an outrageous lie!" Eustace cried out offendedly, "I won the school hygiene award, two years running!" The buyers laughed again, but the auctioneer smiled a little as he realized Eustace was selling himself.
"Come on!" He said to the crowd, "Someone make a bid!"
"I'll take them off your hands." A man said, stepping forward in a deep, blue robe, Eustace curiously noticed that his mouth didn't move as he spoke, "I'll take them all off your hands!" The man lifted up his hood to reveal that it was Drinian, with Reepicheep on his shoulder, "For Narnia!" Men who were wearing the same robes threw them off and drew out their swords, attacking the slave traders while the buyers ran off. Caspian, Edmund and Lord Bern had been passing by when the fight had begun, and they took advantage of it by disabling the guards and getting them out of the way. The guards fought back, slicing their swords at them, and they avoided them and struck back as best they could. In the middle of the fight, Reepicheep used his sword to pick the locks on Lucy's chains. When they were released she smiled at the mouse.
"Thanks, Reep, I knew I could count on you." She said.
"Your majesty," Reepicheep said with a bow, instantly jumping back into the fray. Lucy picked up one of the books that documented who had been sold and used it as a weapon against the slave traders. Caspian and Edmund made good use of the chains around their wrists, Edmund using his to stop one of the traders by putting the chains around his neck in a sort of sleeper hold.
"The keys!" He said to Lord Bern, "Get the keys!" The old man did as Edmund requested and unlocked his cuffs. After Caspian had taken out the trader that he was battling, he was given the keys as well. He and Edmund took their weapons from the slave traders and ran down to join in the battle finding that some of the citizens who had been hiding away joining into the fight, taking out as many of the slave traders as they could. In all of the scuffle and fighting, nobody noticed Eustace slipping away.
He ran down to the longboats, quickly climbing in and sitting down, looking around the boat. When nothing happened, he took the seat opposite where he had been sitting previously. He didn't notice the head of the slave traders running away like he was, getting close to the docks. Eustace looked at the boat exasperatedly.
"Oh, you're a boat in a magical land. Can't you row yourself?" He asked it irritably, hating the idea of having to row the boat on his own. The head slave trader saw him, and a plan formed in his mind. He reached into his robe and pulled out a curled knife, creeping towards Eustace with it raised high. The boy tried to put the oars in place on the boat, confused as to how it should be done. He raised it up, deciding to put it in the opposite way he had tried to do, but he underestimated the weight of the oar, and he ended up stumbling with it in his hands, losing some of his balance. He spun around, when he did, the oar hit the slave trader's head, effectively knocking him over and into the water. Eustace dropped the oar in shock at what had just happened.
"Oh, God," He said, "I hope that wasn't the British Consul."
Caspian looked around, seeing that the people of the islands seemed to have the situation with the traders under control. He looked around for the woman he loved, but couldn't find her. Then he remembered where he last saw her. He began to worry, and turned to Edmund.
"I'm going to find Max!" He said, Edmund nodded.
"I'll come with you." He said, following his friend to the dungeons. As they came closer to the cell they were held in, they heard cries of pain. Caspian's blood ran cold when he realized it was Maxine. He ran a little faster and he burst through the dungeon door. His blood went from ice cold in fear to boiling hot in anger when he saw the two slave traders, one of them holding a whip, and Maxine on her knees facing a pillar of wood, with her hands bound to it. He saw red and drew his sword, letting out a wild cry and attacking the two of them. Once they were both incapacitated, he went over to Maxine, his heart clenching painfully in his chest at the sight of her exposed back. There were scars all over it, and she was bleeding profusely. He came over to her, releasing her wrists from the ropes and putting his arm around her, careful of her back. She looked up at him, and saw her cheeks, eyes, and nose were red from crying. He gently put his hand on her cheek, tucking some of her hair behind her ear with the utmost care.
"Caspian…" Caspian felt his heart breaking at the sound of her weakened voice. She grasped his shirt and leaned into him. He took her in his arms, his arms barely touching her back, and held her close, shushing her.
"It's alright," He soothed, smoothing his hand over her hair, "You're safe now." He kissed her forehead softly, and she stayed close to him, nuzzling her face into his chest. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, before shakily trying to stand. Caspian instantly helped her, letting her lean on him as they walked. Edmund took a cloak from one of the slave traders and put it around Maxine's shoulders to hide her back.
"We'll get Lucy's cordial," Caspian said, "You're going to be fine. I promise."
"They tried… to make me think… they were my masters…" Maxine mumbled as they walked out of the dungeons. Caspian felt a little relief when he saw Maxine smile up at him, "But I never gave in…"
"I'm glad." Caspian said, holding her body close to his as they walked out of the dungeons.
Caspian, Maxine, Lucy, and Edmund walked through the streets of Narrowhaven. The people cheering for them and the Dawn Treader crew as they prepared to leave.
"Your majesty?" A voice called out from the crowd, Caspian looked to see a man coming towards him, "Your majesty!" He recognized him as the man who had run after his wife just that morning.
"Hold it!" Drinian stopped him from going any further.
"My wife was taken just this morning," The man said, Maxine saw a little girl run up behind him, "I beg you, take me with you."
"Gale!" A woman said as the little girl grasped onto her father.
"I want to come." She said to him.
"No, Gale, stay with your aunt." The man said, pushing her towards the woman who had called out for her. He looked back to Caspian, "I'm a fine sailor. Been on the seas my whole life."
"Of course," Caspian said with a smile, he clapped his hand on the man's shoulder, "You must." The man smiled widely at him.
"Thank you!" He said happily, his little girl came up to him again.
"But, Daddy—!" He stopped and looked down at her.
"Have I ever not come back?" He asked, his daughter shook her head, and he hugged her, kissing her cheek, "Now, be good." She nodded once, and her aunt rushed up to her taking her in her arms and walking away. Maxine had seen the exchange between them, and felt slightly saddened that her father wasn't like that. Then again, if her father had stuck around, she wouldn't have been much better off than where she was at that moment. Caspian, who was walking next to her, noticed her expression and gently rubbed her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He asked, Maxine nodded.
"Just a little jealous." She said with a small smile, Caspian frowned and looked back at where the man and his daughter had spoken. He reached down and took her hand, linking their fingers together.
As they walked towards the longboats, another voice shouted out to them, "My King!" Caspian looked to see Lord Bern coming towards him, carrying a barnacle-covered object in his hands, "My King!" Caspian walked over to him, as did Edmund, Maxine, Lucy, and Drinian. Lord Bern held out the sword to him, "This was given to me by your father. I hid it safely in a cave, all these years."
"That's an old Narnian sword." Edmund said recognizing the style the sword was shaped in.
"Indeed, it's from your golden age." Lord Bern said, "There are seven such swords, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia. Your father entrusted them to us." He held out the sword to him, "Here, take it. And may it protect you." Caspian took the old sword from him and gazed at it for a second, then looked back at Lord Bern.
"Thank you, my lord." He said, "And we will find your lost citizens." Lord Bern nodded and Caspian started walking towards the longboats, with Maxine on one side, and Edmund on the other. "Edmund." The High King looked over at Caspian and he handed him the sword with a smile. Edmund took it from him and gazed at it. Maxine smiled at Caspian as they loaded into the boats.
"That was nice of you." She commented as he sat down next to her.
"Well, he does not have a sword of his own," Caspian said, "I thought it only fit that I give it to him." Maxine smiled and linked their fingers together again as everyone else prepared to leave.
To celebrate the victory that night, one of the fauns on the ship took out their pipes and began to play a lively tune on them that everyone danced to. Lucy laughed as she and Edmund danced together, performing a sort of polka dance. Maxine was happily twirled around in Caspian's arms around the deck, smiling the entire time. The crew around them clapped in time to the music, some joining in to dance, some not. Everyone was having a fantastic time, it seemed.
Well, not entirely everyone.
Eustace sat in the corner, scowling at everyone that passed by him. It looked like he had no interest in the little party at all. Maxine noticed this, and frowned. She snuck away from Caspian, and she walked over to Eustace, propping her hands on her hips as she looked at him.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, seeing a small book in his hands.
"It's none of your business, now is it?" Eustace sneered, not looking up from what he was writing. Maxine gave him a dry look, but held back the insult she wanted to say.
"Why don't you join in the fun?" She asked, moving to sit on a barrel next to him.
"I don't think so." Eustace said, "I'm not going to waste all my energy on a dance that will give everyone the chance to step on my feet. The music is terrible, anyway, far too happy and sentimental." Maxine frowned. Okay, no more nice Max for this kid.
"Aww, is someone still cranky because they didn't find the British Consul?" She cooed in a baby voice. Eustace looked up at her incredulously, and she laughed, "Oh, come on, lighten up. It's a party! Go and dance, have some fun for once in your miserable life." Eustace tucked his diary in his sock and stood up, looking rather offended.
"I'll have you know that my life was perfectly happy until my wretched cousins came to stay." Eustace said. He stalked away from her, and she frowned.
"Jeez, touchy." She muttered. She jumped when someone kissed her cheek.
"You left me dancing alone." Caspian said with a smile. She smiled back and took his hand.
"I just wanted a little break." She said, quickly joining him in dancing once again.
Maxine snuggled comfortably into Caspian's side as they sat up on the deck, long after most of the crew had gone to sleep. Caspian smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Maxine sighed happily.
"I missed this." She said, Caspian smiled.
"As did I." He said, his fingers lightly trailing against her arm. Caspian felt his skin tingling when Maxine drummed her fingers against Caspian's chest. Maxine smiled as she felt his muscles hiding under his shirt.
"Caspian, how old are you now?" Maxine asked, "I just realized that after all the time I've spent on this boat, I have no idea how old you are."
"I am twenty one." Caspian said.
"Lucky." Maxine said, "Back home, that's legal drinking age. You could sneak me into a bar and get me, like, wine or something." Caspian looked down at her.
"Have you never had wine, Maxine?" She shook her head.
"No, Susan doesn't keep alcohol in the house." Maxine said, "Says it kills brain cells and makes you puke, which it totally does, but I still want to try it."
"We could have some now." Caspian said, Maxine looked up at him, "There is some wine in the galley."
"Seriously?" Maxine asked happily, jumping up, "Well, let's go!" Caspian laughed at her enthusiasm as she grabbed his hand and they went below deck to the galley. Caspian went through some of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of some spiced wine. Maxine smiled as he poured her a glass.
"Cheers." Caspian said, clinking their glasses together.
"Cheers." Maxine said with a smile. They took a sip of the liquid. Maxine licked her lips when she had swallowed it, "That's pretty good, although…"
"Although what?" Caspian asked.
"I thought there would be something of a… buzz to it." Maxine said, she shrugged, "Media's hyped it up, I guess."
"Well, you know, this wine isn't alcoholic." Caspian said, "I didn't exactly think it was best to have on a long voyage, so I had only spiced wine. It tastes the same as any other Narnian wine."
"Oh, you tricked me." Maxine said, lightly smacking his chest, "I thought you had actual booze." Caspian laughed.
"No." Caspian said, "I didn't want to deal with any drunkards while we traveled, so I made sure there wasn't anything alcoholic."
"Cheater." Maxine said, sitting down at one of the tables in the galley, Caspian sat across from her. She shrugged, "But it's still pretty good, brain-killing or not." Caspian laughed as she took a gulp from her glass. She smiled back at him. The two of them simply chatting quietly to pass the time, enjoying each other's company, until Maxine yawned.
"Tired?" Caspian asked. Maxine shrugged.
"Maybe a little." She admitted. Caspian took her empty glass from her and put up the spiced wine.
"Then you should get to bed." He said, coming back over to her. Maxine held out her arms.
"Carry me." She ordered, Caspian chuckled.
"Well, since you asked so politely…"
"Please carry me?" Maxine tried again.
Caspian smiled, "Much better." He reached down, picking her up in his arms and carrying her up to her room. Quietly opening the door, so as not to disturb Lucy, who was already sleeping in the bed. Caspian carried her over to the empty side of the bed and lay her down on it. He looked at her eyes, and found he couldn't leave her just yet. He stayed over her, his brown eyes staring at hers, and soon found himself leaning down and putting her lips against his in a sweet kiss. Maxine kissed him back, putting her hand on his cheek, her fingers slowly trailing over his beard. Caspian pulled away all too soon and smiled at her, whispering, "Goodnight, Maxine."
"Goodnight, Caspian." Maxine whispered back, still holding out her hand as Caspian left her side, quietly shutting the door behind him. Maxine sighed and put her hand down once he was gone. She reached up, pulling off the shoes she was wearing, and tucked herself into the bed. Her dreams that night, filled with the image of the handsome king she loved so very much.